When Sheriff Jason Mikesell released a statement last week about his position on the U.S. Constitution and the Second Amendment, the Facebook post went viral.

“Your right to bear arms is absolute and will not be infringed upon by my office, regardless of any orders or legislative decrees,” states the post.

As well, the sheriff quoted part of the Fourth Amendment which affirms the “right of the people to be secure in the persons, houses, papers, and effects, against any unreasonable search and seizure shall not be violated and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause.”

Mikesell is among Republicans in Colorado, including Teller County

Board of County Commissioners, who have spoken out against the legislature’s passage of HB21-1106 and SB210078. In fact, commissioners Erik Stone and Dan Williams have testified in Denver against the former, which requires that firearms be responsibly and securely stored when not in use to prevent access by unsupervised juveniles and other unauthorized users. The bill is specifically directed at homeowners who live with juveniles or with someone who is ineligible to possess a firearm under state or federal law. Unlawful storage of a firearms is a class 2 misdemeanor.

Senate Bill 21-078 requires an individual who owns a firearm to report the loss or theft of that firearm to a law enforcement agency within five days after discovering that the firearm was lost or stolen. Failure to do so would lead to a $25 fine for a civil infraction, while second or further violations would be classified as a misdemeanor punishable with fines of up to $500.

Both bills passed the Colorado legislature with no Republican support.

“The legislature keeps putting out laws that are unenforceable,” said Mikesell. “So, it’s causing a rift between law enforcement and the community.”

Word on the street as well as on social media has generated strong reactions that have reached the sheriff. “The community believes that we are going to be enforcing a mandatory inspection in their homes by knocking on the door,” he said.

The laws are putting law enforcement between a rock and a hard place, he said. “We are not supportive of this if the state is going to do gun confiscation.”

While HB21-1106 does not include language about gun confiscation, Mikesell believes the new law is a lead into just that. “I think the state legislature is pushing more toward confiscation of assault weapons and bans on these items that people have paid for,” he said.

The sheriff states that he believes the safe-storage law is a violation of the Fourth Amendment. “The Fourth Amendment means items can’t be seized. And that also means firearms,” he said. “This is something I never thought was going to be an issue, where I would worry about the seizure of firearms.”

Law enforcement officers are the last line of defense to uphold the constitutions of the United States as well as individual states. “I believe the state has an agenda, through the legislative body, to take your firearms and take away your freedom,” Mikesell said.

In defending his position on both laws, Mikesell cites the “Officer Discretion,” clause in the state constitution. “We don’t have to charge people with laws if we don’t believe they are right, necessary or a good reason,” Mikesell said.

As it stands, if a shooting — accidental or otherwise — occurs in the home, law enforcement investigates. “If an accident occurred, we would look at reckless endangerment by the way they stored the gun and anything else,” he said. “It’s always been that way.”

The new law changes the way it has always been, according to Mikesell. “The issue now is that the legislative body is saying we must do something in the privacy of your own home,” he said. “Those types of laws are now making everyone a criminal. I just don’t think they’re enforceable.”

An opposing view

In response to the gun bills passed by the Colorado Legislature, Giffords, a nonprofit organization focused on promoting gun control, cites studies that show gun-related deaths in Colorado have risen by 52% over the past decade.

“Studies show that if just 20% more homes stored firearms locked and unloaded, nearly a third of youth suicides and unintentional gun deaths could be prevented,” states a release from the organization.

The release states that the aforementioned bill is intended to reduce the number of guns transferred to criminals in other states.

“From 2013 to 2017, 4,479 guns originally sold in Colorado were recovered at crime scenes in other states. Additionally, the rate of guns trafficked out of Colorado is increasing — from 2013 to 2017, the number of exported crime guns per Colorado resident increased by nearly 38%. These increases correspond with increases in the number of firearms stolen in Colorado,” states the release.

Giffords is led by former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot Jan 8, 2011 in a supermarket parking lot in Tucson. Six people died in the shooting and Giffords suffered a severe brain injury.

“The legislature keeps putting out laws that are unenforceable. So, it’s causing a rift between law enforcement and the community.”

~ Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell